Thoko Ea maAfrika (c1980 recording)

Published in 1947, Thoko Ea maAfrika is a praise song for the British monarch George VI, crowned in 1937, as if he were a Basotho Paramount Chief. The lyrics refer to the lion, which as well as being one of the two animals on the British royal crest is the totem animal of BaTaung, Mohapeloa’s Lesotho clan. Sharpeville Methodist Church Choir (conductor not specified) sings on the recording made by the SABC, probably in the late 1970s or early 1980s. This historic recording was reissued in 2014 by ACE as Track 13 on the CD African Choral Legacy: Historic Recordings of Joshua Pulumo Mohapeloa.